The City Slicker
Asun and Mimi sit in a cafe off the waterfront in Belaga, a town of 2500 souls and the major trading hub of great swathes...
Tagged: single parent
The Man who Mistook his Capital for a Cat
This is Astana, the little place which James Brooke, the first “White Rajah” of Sarawak, built for himself in his capital, Kuching (“Cat”). A Victorian...
Sign Language
One of my spawn’s many endearing qualities is that he generally, as here with his new friend Solène, looks as though butter wouldn’t melt in...
Smells Like Drains, Tastes Like Syllabub
Ahhh… The sweet scent of durian. Known across South-East Asia as “the king of fruits”. Celebrated at festivals across Malaysia and Indonesia. Freighted cross-continents by...
Penguins in Bangkok
We didn’t come to Thailand for the penguins. But there’s something surreally magical about stepping out of 35 degrees of sweaty, humid heat and coming...
Vertigo, Bangkok
This is the view from Vertigo, the aptly named, open-air bar which sits on the sixtieth floor above the Banyan Tree hotel, Bangkok. And I...
If Bangkok was a Colour…
If Bangkok had a colour, it would most definitely be pink. Hot pink. Like a bar girl’s brassiere, or those gorgeous metallic fuchsia and violet...
"Mum! FEET!!!"
It is amazing how fast children adapt to and internalise the conventions, taboos, the social norms and etiquette of another culture. And not just by...
At the Orphanage
Our first volunteering stint as a family brought us to Baan Kingkaew orphanage, a home for orphaned children aged from three months to six years...
Sweet Charity? On Volunteering
I have an aversion to the idea of volunteering overseas which dates back to a hospital bed in small town Mali. It wasn’t the extended...